1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to devices for supporting, attaching and securing hurricane panels, specifically to a do-it-yourself glass door or window hurricane panel lower edge support and attachment system as a primary component in protection systems for home and business owners in that period following a hurricane watch or warning.
2. Prior Art
The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season began Jun. 1, 2005 and lasted until Nov. 30, 2005. Unexpectedly, this became a most active season, shattering records on repeated occasions, with 27 tropical storms formed, of which a record 15 became hurricanes. The impact of the 2005 season was widespread and ruinous with recorded damages of over $ 100 billion and a death toll approaching 2,000 lives.
The most common materials causing severe damage and breakage during severe storms include roof shingles, roof tiles, children's play ground toys, lawn furniture, tree limbs, outdoor grills, fencing materials, garbage cans, and a wide variety of similar airborne missiles. Studies of damage from recent hurricanes show that most of the damage to homes was from wind or wind-borne missiles that broke the windows and glass doors and let rain and wind into the home. Once the integrity of a structure has been broken, the resultant storm pressure may blow out other windows and lift roofs from the structures. This “Venturi Effect” is a special case of the Bernoulli Principle, or the reduction of pressure producing a partial vacuum.
Only a small percentage of the 40 million property owners along our total hurricane-prone coastline of 2,911 miles have currently installed hurricane protection over glass doors and windows. The Atlantic Coast of 1,280 miles extends from Virginia to Florida and the Gulf Coast of 1,631 miles extends from Florida to Texas.
The current state of storm protection prior art offers a number of window-related protection systems, many of which require complex manufacturing capabilities and professional installation skills. These effective systems are targeted for the upper middle class and above. Affordable and rapid do-it-yourself protection systems are needed to assist property owners in the short time period following a hurricane watch or warning.
Hurricane protection of windows is the primary focus of the large and expanding number of sophisticated, effective, and commercially available systems for home and business owners is hurricane protection of windows. Protection of sliding glass patio and French type doors and commercial glass entrance doors are areas of minimum attention, when compared to window protection systems. Protection of wide glass doors involves a number of more difficult and complex problems than the average window.
Property owners of upper level or high-rise properties, those above ground level, are unable to protect their glass doors from hurricane forces. Most of the limited systems designed specifically for glass doors require attachment of hurricane panels from outside the glass door to be protected, making it impossible for the installer to re-enter the structure following the installation. Prior art provides few glass door systems designed to allow an installer access back into the structure following installation of the hurricane panels over the glass door opening.
My previous patent application Ser. No. 11/966,626, filed on Dec. 28, 2007, provides a commercially successful, do-it-yourself solution for rapid attachment of plywood or plastic panels over windows. This system involves a lower and upper track and channel system requiring sliding the hurricane panel into position over the window. Full size sheets of ¾″, ⅝″ and ½″ plywood necessary to protect wide expanses of glass are unwieldy, heavy and difficult for the average homeowner to lift into a track or slide down a channel into position over wide expanses of floor level glass.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,704 to Covington (1973) discloses aluminum extrusions shaped to receive and support a single removable plywood panel. The system requires the lifting of a panel into a U shaped track. Such track and channel systems are subject to collection of debris, leaves and other common airborne contaminants during periods when panels are not in place. The invention also describes installing the system on the inside of the window opening in multi-story buildings. The system would not protect the glass window from breakage when installed inside the building structure. The system installation skills required are beyond what can be expected of a do-it-yourself homeowner seeking rapid retrofit protection of wide window expanses following a hurricane watch or warning.
U.S. Design Pat. No. D541,140 to Allen (2007) illustrates a storm shutter track design to contain one (1) or more sliding tracks for storm shutters requiring the lifting of panels into place.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,775 to Santos (1994) provides for top and bottom rails mounted on a vertical building surface. No provision is provided for installation on a flat deck or horizontal surface. Manufacturing the system would require extensive tooling and set up costs. Installation is of such a nature as to be complex to a homeowner with moderate do-it-yourself skills and tools, in the short period of time prior to the arrival of a hurricane. No provisions are provided for the installation of a hurricane panel from inside the structure of the opening to be protected.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,820,381 to Ballough (2004) discloses a storm shutter attachment system designed to be attached to the exterior wall portion of a house or building. The stated objectives of the invention are to provide for non-visible mounting of the upper portion of a storm shutter. This invention was not designed to provide for a solution to support, attach and secure plywood hurricane panels to deck level patio door openings.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,978,579 to Trinca (2005) requires the use of the existing screen track of the window opening to be protected. Patio door screen tracks lack the design and structure to support the weight of full size sheets of ⅝″ or ¾″ plywood panels. French doors do not provide for screens. The present invention is compatible with French styled doors and commercial office doors. This referenced patent is not a deck-mounted system for do-it-yourself installation of storm panels.
U.S. Patent Application 2007/0107328 to Munch (2007) discloses a panel attachment system composed of upper track of an “h” shape and lower track of an “f” shape mounted to a vertical wall of the structure. Storm panels are inserted in an upper track and hinge down to exactly match apertures in the panel with extended threaded fasteners in the lower track system. No provision is provided to support, secure, and attach full size sheets of panel material to a flat horizontal deck or structure. The system is installed from outside the structure.
U.S. Patent Application 2003/0159373 to Lien (2003) discloses a protective board U channel hinged track system mounted on the top and bottom frame parts of the window. The invention is not designed for homeowner installation of a system to protect the oversize openings of patio doors installed flush with concrete, composite or wooden deck structures.
U.S. Patent Application 2009/0107061 to Guthrie (2009) discloses a structural reinforcement system to reinforce sliding glass door structures against storm force winds. Once installed, the system increases the structural integrity of the sliding glass door structure by increasing the ability of the door to withstand being blown inward or outward by storm force winds. This invention discloses no protection to the glass portion of the sliding glass door from flying debris associated with hurricane conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,354 to Thompson (2000), discloses a complex system of locking mechanisms, brackets and mounts that are permanently attached to a structure. The bracketed system is not simple in nature and not suitable for installation during the hours prior to a storm making landfall.
The problems involved in protecting wide, deck level expanses of glass doors and windows has led the hurricane protection industry to concentrate on the more simple art of protecting ground level windows. Considering the number of windows in a home compared to the number of wide glass doors, this direction is understandable. Practical, affordable and rapidly installed do-it-yourself homeowner protection systems for patio type and French type doors with plywood or corrugated plastic panels are a neglected art.
Following a storm warning, the demand for plywood and other types of panels is heavy at building material suppliers and big box lumberyards. The missing component during this rush for protection is a fast and simple way to install temporary storm panels with minimum damage to the structure, damage associated with nailing and bolting the panels directly to the building structure. Sheets of plywood and other materials are heavy, unwieldy, and essentially impossible for one person to support and to hold a sheet in place while trying to nail it to the structure, especially if the weather is deteriorating.
The panel attachment systems for attaching protective storm panels over wide expanses of glass, heretofore known, suffer from one or more of the following disadvantages:
(a) Their basic design is for window protection applications of average size openings, unlike the larger sized openings of patio style sliding glass doors, French type doors, and wide commercial expanses of glass doors and windows.
(b) Their fabrication requires a manufacturer capable of complex mechanical sub-assemblies, extrusions, foundry or casting capabilities, and adherence to precise tolerances. Tooling costs prior to manufacturing are substantial.
(c) A majority of prior art devices are fabricated of metal. Coastal climates are known for corrosive salt air that will eventually cause aluminum to corrode, steel to rust, and plating to deteriorate. Stainless steel is an obvious but prohibitively expensive alternative metal material.
(d) “U” shaped channels and tracks with close tolerances are subject to the drawbacks of debris accumulation, rendering them less than optimum. Some prior art examples with close tolerances may also be rendered less than optimum due to the need for refinishing in corrosive salt air environments.
(e) A majority of available systems do not allow passage back into the structure following storm panel installation, making these systems unusable for above ground level installations.
Prior art does not provide the missing component in this protection scenario for a simple and low cost apparatus designed specifically for do-it-yourself home and business owners to attach full sheets of plywood or plastic over wide expanses of glass with relative ease. A system is needed to eliminate the need to lift the full weight of the panel and provide for attachment of panels to a deck or other horizontal surface using ordinary do-it-yourself tools in the short period following a hurricane watch or warning. Upper level protection is precluded by the majority of systems requiring installation from outside the opening without a provision for re-entering the structure.
3. Advantages
Accordingly, one or more embodiments of the present invention may have one or more of the following advantages:
(a) to provide a hurricane panel lower edge attachment device, which can be installed with average do-it-yourself tools and skills;
(b) to provide a hurricane panel lower edge attachment device, which can be installed by a property owner with only the hours remaining after a hurricane watch or warning;
(c) to provide a hurricane panel lower edge attachment device impervious to degradation, corrosion, oxidation or other common problems associated with coastal salt air environments;
(d) to provide a hurricane panel lower edge attachment device fabricated from relatively low-cost materials in plentiful supply to enhance affordability;
(e) to provide a hurricane panel lower edge attachment device designed to eliminate custom designing, professional installation, and extended lead times;
(f) to provide a hurricane panel lower edge attachment device of compatible components allowing for side by side installation for protecting long expanses of glass doors and windows;
(g) to provide a hurricane panel lower edge attachment device with provisions for access back into the structure being protected following the installation of panels;
Further advantages of this do-it-yourself horizontal base lower panel edge installing, attaching, and securing system for full sized sheets of plywood or plastic panel materials to protect extended expanses of glass doors or windows will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.